Robert Towne
Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz; November 23, 1934 - July 1, 2024) was an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He was part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974), which is widely considered one of the greatest screenplays ever written. He later said it was inspired by a chapter in Carey McWilliams's Southern California Country: An Island on the Land (1946) and a West magazine article on Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles. Towne also wrote the sequel, The Two Jakes (1990); the Hal Ashby comedy-dramas The Last Detail (1973) and Shampoo (1975); and the first two Mission: Impossible films. Towne directed the sports dramas Personal Best (1982) and Without Limits (1998), the crime thriller Tequila Sunrise (1988), and the romantic crime drama Ask the Dust (2006). Description above from the Wikipedia article Robert Towne, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
- Known for
- Writing
- Born
- 1934-11-23 · San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Died
- 2024-07-01
Known for
- The Godfather (1972) — Story Editor
- Mission: Impossible (1996) — Screenplay
- Mission: Impossible II (2000) — Screenplay
- Chinatown (1974) — Writer
- The Firm (1993) — Screenplay
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967) — Additional Writing
- Days of Thunder (1990) — Screenplay
- Mad Men (2007) — Consulting Producer
- Frantic (1988) — Additional Writing
- Tequila Sunrise (1988) — Screenplay
- Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) — Screenplay
- McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) — Additional Writing
- Heaven Can Wait (1978) — Additional Writing
- The Last Detail (1973) — Screenplay
- Suspect Zero (2004) — Professor Dates (uncredited)
- The Parallax View (1974) — Additional Writing